Tuesday, June 14, 2005

ere are some answers to some of the random questions I received last week... or was it two weeks ago? I've kinda lost track of time. Is it still 2005?

EnderSatomi: where do you see yourself 10 years from now? 20?

Ender, I rarely look beyond the coming weekend. This is perhaps the problem of most procrastinators. I think if I actually considered my future--near and distant--I would do work that needs to be done now, NOW, and would stop putting it off until later. But if I were to stop procrastinating and did things as I should, then I suppose that in 10 years, I'd still be doing what I'm doing now: Teaching. And for better or for worse, at the same place.

Momo5: If you could live anywhere apart from Washington DC, where would you go?

Tokyo. I just love that city.

gokingsgo: Would you ever move back to LA?

Well, if there was a teaching job for me, I'd probably move... maybe... I lived my first 30 years in LA and I know its good side and its bad side. I was nine during the Watts riots of '65 and parts of the East LA riots happened right in front of my house. It was pretty scary. But worse, probably, is the traffic. I thought it was bad during the 70s and 80s, but its freakin' ridiculous now. But the worst thing is that the Dodgers are no longer owned by the O'Malleys. They were a dream organization: a pristine stadium, great service, and a competetive team. Doesn't Murdoch own the team now? Forget it...

Fongster8: Do you plan or hope to live and work in another country? Besides Japan.

Actually, if the opportunity to move to another country to teach Japanese arose, I'd consider it seriously. Virtually any country that had no wars or threat of terrorist attack would be considered. And, of course, an Internet connection to stay on Xanga.

aznquarter: what inspired you to create onigiriman?

My fat face. Hahaha. But this is what I wrote previously: "At work, since around 1997, I created and maintained most of our departmental website, and as a result, virtually everything on the site was about my colleagues; there was precious little about myself--you know how modest I can be. So I wanted to create a character to represent me, a way to deflect attention to myself through a different character. I remembered one caracature I had invented in 1998--let's call him Early O-man. He was crude--as you can see in this early original--with crooked glasses and fat lips. I would write this on papers and quizzes and books and videos to show I had been there. But it was for private use. To represent myself on a pubic Internet site, I had to redesign him for a more sophisticated look. Below is the final version I came up with on Microsoft Paint.

Dubbing him Onigiriman--no hyphen, one word--he became a familiar image in our J program, making appearances on our newsletter and other places. I remember one student telling me that he thought it was so cool, that I should make sure to copyright it. Hahahaha. I could only laugh."

DaddyLike: Question: what rhymes with orange?

How about "syringe", as in: I have such a love for oranges / I would hook them up to syringes / to inject my lozanges

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a living rice ball, male conceived in Japan born in the U.S. Fillings include any combination of narcissism, sarcasm, cynicism, and a whole lot of attitude. Approach with caution, befriend with an open mind. Sunglasses de rigueur
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the onigiriman philosophy

We are the sum total of our own individual experiences. As a result, everything we think, say, and interpret is tainted. While we may try to offer objective "facts", these facts are arranged and presented through the prism of our own experiences. As such every memory we recall, every event we interpret is our own subjective perspective of the truth.